The Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference. Formerly a host to the MCLA’s biggest “scandal”. Now, a host to some damn good lacrosse.

Augustana Vikings

3/13 vs Michigan-Dearborn

Final Grade: D. Come on! you’ve got some great teams pretty much right in your back yard. It can’t be too hard to get at least one more of them.

Cornell Rams

None

Final Grade: F.

Creighton Blue Jays

2/6 vs Carleton 2/19 @ St. Johns

2/20 @ North Dakota State

3/19 vs Northern Colorado

4/10 @ Fort Lewis

4/11 Metro State

Final Grade: B+. The Jays whole schedule looks really tough, but their OOC alone they’ll face 4 or 5 ranked teams out the 6. If they win 3 of these and have a good showing in conference play, they might have a shot at an at-large bid.

Final Grade: B. This isn’t a bad OOC schedule. None of the teams are really all that spectacular, as far as I know. Still, it’s always great to get a decent amount of games out of conference to see how you stack up with the rest of the country.

Dordt Sowers

2/13 @ St. Olaf 4/3 vs MSU-Moorhead

Final Grade: C. The Sowers(seriously? Are you sowing grass? I’m confused.) take on the bare minimum in OOC games for at-large consideration. I’m pretty sure that St. Olaf and MSU-M are middle of the road UMLL teams, which in theory would make them great because the UMLL consistently boasts two top 5 teams, but there is a huge drop off in quality after those two teams. And the Sowers don’t even schedule the best team in their conference. Begging for mediocrity.

Harding Bison

2/20 @ Dayton

2/21 @ Tennessee Wesleyan

3/27 @ Emory

3/28 @ Kennesaw State

4/10 vs Centenary

Final Grade: A-. They went out and they got some great teams to play. Dayton, Emory, TWC(even though it’s early in the season, I think they’ll be amongst the top teams in the SELC), and playing Missouri State in conference. If they can come out of that with only one loss, they’ll be sitting pretty come May. The Lax Edit: Added Harding vs Centenary. Final Grade stays the same.

Missouri Baptist Spartans

3/5 @ Ferris State

3/6 @ Taylor

Final Grade: C. I’m not too pleased with this schedule, but they do end up with a decent amount of games vs D1 competition. Still, that’s no excuse for not getting more games.

Missouri State Bears

2/19 @ Emory

2/20 @ Kennesaw State

2/21 @ SCAD

3/20 vs Northern Colorado

Final Grade: A. Emory, SCAD, and UNC are all really tough teams. It’s even worse when you play them in their neck of the woods. The opening weekend of SELC competition will do wonders for the team when it comes tournament time.

Missouri S&T Miners

Final Grade: F. They don’t have any games scheduled outside of the GRLC.

Palmer Dragons

3/13 @ Michigan-Dearborn

Final Grade: D. I know some schools have legit reasons for not being able to get more games, but I’ve got no sympathy for the Dragons. Being in Iowa, they can get some games vs the dynamic duo in Mi9nnesota very easily.

Rockhurst Hawks

Final Grade: F. No games.

St. Louis Bilikens

Final Grade: F. What exactly is a biliken? As usual, an ‘F’ means no games.

Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks

3/27 @ Bethel

4/4 vs MSU-Moorhead

4/10 vs Iowa St(UMLL D1)

Final Grade: C. Not good, not great. I like that they both host and travel. It’s what the good teams do.

South Dakota Coyotes

2/6 @ Augsburg [CANCELLED]

2/6 @ North Dakota State [CANCELLED]

3/28 @ St. Thomas [CANCELLED]

4/10 vs St. Olaf

Final Grade: C+. I’ll go based on what they had. Sometimes weather is unkind. They had a fairly decent schedule put together, so I hope that doesn’t prevent them from getting an at-large bid.

Washington-St. Louis Bears

Final Grade: F. No words. They do have 4 D1 teams on the schedule.

Wheaton Thunder

2/12 @ St. Johns

2/13 @ North Dakota State

3/26 vs Carleton

4/15 vs Calvin

Final Grade: A-. I really like the schedule. Opening up the season on the road is tough. Opening the season on the road against St. Johns is just brutal. Loving that they travel and host and also play teams from more than one conference.

Overall Grade: B-. The GRLC has a few points deducted for some of the teams not having games like they should. They do have quite a few games against some really good teams. Expect the GRLC do be well represented in Denver.

My connections with Charlotte have given me a sneak peek at their 2010 uniforms and helmets.

Let’s start with the head gear

I’m loving the gold face masks and the #’s on one side.

Those are beautiful. Under Armor did the Niners proud.

This is the back. I’m thinking the front just has a big logo on it. Not a bad shooting shirt, if you ask me.

I also had some pics of a polo shirt they got, but it was too big to upload. Trust me when I say it was amazing.

That’s all I have for now. Expect a UNCG recap including our opening weekend and our first game vs SELC competition (ironically, coming against Charlotte), and another installment of Nationwide Indiscretions.

__________________________________________________________________________________About the Author: The Lax picked up his first stick when he stepped on campus at MCLA D2 school UNC Charlotte. After taking a short break, he returned to the field for independent UNCG. The Lax enjoys flowers, pictures of unicorns, long walks on the beach, and above all else, beating people with his D-Pole.

About the author

Hilsgen

Hilsgen is a former MCLA D2 defender. After his playing career ended, he turned to the sidelines where he was briefly on staff at UNCG. Now, he's a nomadic lacrosse fan, looking for his next coaching and playing opportunity.

As a former GRLC D2 laxer, I have to admit I'm very disappointed with the direction a lot of the teams are headed; namely Augustana SLU, and Missouri State. It was not long ago the Vikings went to Nationals. SLU was a team who I always thought was on the their way up. MSU is a joke. Dropping from D1 to D2 just because you hate to lose to LU and Illinois every year is pitiful. Every conference has a few doormat squads, but it seems there are maybe 2 teams with aspirations that reach higher than conference playoffs.

GRLC as a whole needs to get its act together if they ever expect to respect as a conference. This year is just another step backward